Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
It was faster than even I’d expected. Ended up being my best performance on a long run since 2013. Wow!
Ben's Fat Loss Diary
- Thread starter Ben_In_NC
- Start date
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Thanks!Hey Ben...just skimmed through your diary--what a positive and fun read!
Your garden pictures look amazing as does your nice dog
And your running is super inspiring--I would love to get to that level of running those distances that comfortably...for now i would like to aim for a HM distance once a month....
Anyways thanks for dropping by my diary and I will be sure to keep a lookout on yours as well--so inspiring!
And for what it’s worth, I typically only run the full HM distance once a month. (Though that will have to change if I decide to try for a full marathon…)
Amazing and impressive! Must feel great for achieving your best time since 2013!
I would love to get there--with a HM distance once a month! Are you looking to run a full marathon? I know people say it's quite a leap from half to full but you seem like a really good runner so I imagine you could do it.
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
That has been the $64,000 question in the back of my mind for a few months now, and the answer is still a big ol' "I don't know." I suspect marathon training would create a bit of a (short-term) conflict with my overall health/fitness goals, but the sense of accomplishment might be really good for me.
I imagine you'll know when the time is right (or if it is ever right) to include that as a goal...it does seem like something that would take a lot of focused attention, and as you say, maybe then take away efforts towards your other goals...
I would say that physically a marathon is bad for about 80% of people who actually do run marathons. Only a very small group of people actually has the build and perfect technique needed to run that far without harming their bodies. Mentally it's a completely different matter, of course.
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Still on point with nutrition and exercise. Scale weight didn't really change much over the weekend. Monday morning weight = 194.63, representing a decrease by 2.15lbs since last Monday. Overall change in 5 weeks since starting thread = 10.13lbs or 2.026 pounds per week.
Leg day in the gym this morning was encouraging: I did more weight for every exercise other than goblet squats, which were the first thing I did after warmups, which makes me wonder if the warm-up is to blame for that. Not sure.
Both Fitbit and Garmin indicate that my resting heart rate has dropped a bit. Garmin says it's 52; Fitbit has it at 56. Both are down 1 from where each device had them last week.
Challenges this week...
MONDAY--Leading music at church for Feast of Mary service in the evening, with an Italian meal with potluck desserts afterward. My intention is to eat before I go and not go into the fellowship area at all. Nothing good can come from that.
Nothing else this week that I am aware of right now that could be a significant hindrance. BIG change next week, though: school starts for my kids on Wednesday. All summer long I've been able to get both lifting and running done in the morning without needing to be particularly time-efficient, but I need to be home by 6:50am to do my part in getting them out the door. Because I work from home, I have three choices in how to handle this:
1. Keep current running/lifting schedule. Be at the gym by 4:15, taking running shoes and post-lifting nutrition in car. Finish by 5:25. Fuel and hydrate during 8-minute drive home. Start run by 5:45am.
PROS
Leg day in the gym this morning was encouraging: I did more weight for every exercise other than goblet squats, which were the first thing I did after warmups, which makes me wonder if the warm-up is to blame for that. Not sure.
Both Fitbit and Garmin indicate that my resting heart rate has dropped a bit. Garmin says it's 52; Fitbit has it at 56. Both are down 1 from where each device had them last week.
| Daily Summary | |||||||
| Budget | Food | Exercise | Net | +/- | Weight (lbs) | Recorded Weight? | |
| 8/8/22 | 2,895 | 2,892 | 727 | 2,165 | -730 | 196.8 | Y |
| 8/9/22 | 2,876 | 2,876 | 982 | 1,894 | -982 | 194.4 | Y |
| 8/10/22 | 2,885 | 2,875 | 1,383 | 1,492 | -1,393 | 195.6 | Y |
| 8/11/22 | 2,887 | 2,885 | 726 | 2,159 | -728 | 195.8 | Y |
| 8/12/22 | 2,871 | 2,897 | 566 | 2,331 | -540 | 193.8 | Y |
| 8/13/22 | 2,880 | 3,393 | 1,458 | 1,935 | -945 | 194.9 | Y |
| 8/14/22 | 2,879 | 2,880 | 781 | 2,099 | -780 | 194.8 | Y |
Challenges this week...
MONDAY--Leading music at church for Feast of Mary service in the evening, with an Italian meal with potluck desserts afterward. My intention is to eat before I go and not go into the fellowship area at all. Nothing good can come from that.
Nothing else this week that I am aware of right now that could be a significant hindrance. BIG change next week, though: school starts for my kids on Wednesday. All summer long I've been able to get both lifting and running done in the morning without needing to be particularly time-efficient, but I need to be home by 6:50am to do my part in getting them out the door. Because I work from home, I have three choices in how to handle this:
1. Keep current running/lifting schedule. Be at the gym by 4:15, taking running shoes and post-lifting nutrition in car. Finish by 5:25. Fuel and hydrate during 8-minute drive home. Start run by 5:45am.
PROS
- Less chance of unexpected stuff getting in the way.
- Done with all exercise before "starting my day."
- Tight timeline. MUST get out of bed by 3:45. (Typically I'm up in the 3:45-4:15 range, so this would push me to the early end of that four days a week.)
- Minimal recovery time between lifting and running.
PROS
- More recovery time between lifting and running.
- Less stressful early morning. Allows for a little more sleep on some mornings if needed. L
CONS
- Higher chance of unexpected stuff pushing the run to after work, which likely would mean missing the run altogether more often.
PROS
- The two harder midweek runs would be on days with NO lifting.
- The two easy runs that happen on lifting days can more easily be moved to lunchtime or after work.
- Because I'd be doing a four-day split with two upper body days, easier to be more efficient on those days with push/pull supersets.
CONS
- Likely reduced lifting volume.
- Definitely reduced running volume.
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Only 80%??? I thought it was higher than even that.
Yeah, I think I'd want to already be down to a body fat % that I feel really good about AND be running 30+ miles a week before I'd even start training.
LOL--yeah a good Italian feast with desserts sounds like a pretty hard temptation to observe and not partake in! What do you do for leading the music?
I don't know how you get out of bed so early!! I'm impressed!
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Well, it feels easy to follow a plan during the summer when you're an early riser. I really do have a silly amount of latitude in the mornings right now. Yesterday I got up an hour later than I wanted to and still had time to go to the gym, weight train for an hour, come home, run, fix breakfast, and eat it--all before 8:15am.I love how much you plan, but I also love how much you follow that plan!
Music--I played piano (also play guitar, but this particular time I did piano) and led congregational singing. Just four songs since it was a shorter service than a normal Sunday one.
Early Riser--I've been an early riser since even high school. In college I'd order my schedule so my classes were at 8, 9:30, and 11am..done by lunchtime. The problem comes when I have to stay up later; my body clock just doesn't let me sleep any later than maybe 5:15 or so.
No posts since Monday, but all has been well. Strength training at the gym Tuesday-Friday morning, and ran Tuesday-Thursday. (I basically never run on Fridays, since Saturday is my long run day.) Total run distance Monday-Thursday has been 21.06 miles. I'll probably do something in the 12-14 range tomorrow morning. (I kinda might want to do 14 just to get over 35 for the week.
) Hit calorie goals all days so far this week. I may not tomorrow. I have a 3.5 pound standing rib roast in the freezer that has been there a while. I don't want it to lose quality, and it's taking up space, so I've decided that I'm going to throw it on the smoker in the morning. I may well eat 2000-3000 calories just from it. Or I may just eat it in moderation and spread it out over the next few days. We'll see. It's the last one of several that I bought after Christmas when they were on crazy sale. My family doesn't really like them, so it's up to me to eat 'em.
Scale weight this morning was 193.5, another "lowest since May 22nd" weight. (Apparently I seriously overate on 5/22 and in the days shortly afterward. Scale went from 193.2 to 196.1 the next day, and was up over 200 by 5/26.) My resting heart rate is slowly coming down as well.
My mind is all over the place with regard to what my plan will be when school starts on Wednesday. Really struggling with what I want to do vs what is realistically sustainable. I'm even now considering dropping one of my two leg days in the gym since I run hill sprints, which are sort of strength training. So I could even do just three days a week of lifting (2 upper, one lower) and spread that hill day away from long run day and lifting day so it could have some truly hard sprints. I just don't know what's best. grrrrrrrr
Lovely! I just started learning piano a few years ago. I love the instrument. Do you mostly just play church music or what kind of stuff do you like playing otherwise?
I always think I am a morning person but that means more like 6am rising for me...not 4 am! yikes! Must be lovely to have all that quiet time before the world begins though...
Way to go on a great week!
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Well, I hope I end up proud of myself—as opposed to kicking myself—over this morning’s run. After several months of disciplining myself to run by heart rate and not worry about pace, I got out there this morning without a specific heart rate plan mapped out…so I ended up all “gonna hit a 9:45 pace,” then after 3 or 4 miles, “hey…I can hit a 9:30 pace,” then somewhere around 10 miles “screw that, 9:20, here I come!!!! Leeeeeeeeeeeroooooooyyyyy Jeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnkins!!!” Garmin’s algorithm accused me of “overreaching” and they’re probably not wrong.Total run distance Monday-Thursday has been 21.06 miles. I'll probably do something in the 12-14 range tomorrow morning. (I kinda might want to do 14 just to get over 35 for the week.
But if I recover in time for a hard run by Tuesday or Wednesday, don’t end up injured, and don’t overeat, it’ll have TOTALLY been worth it, right????
RIGHT????
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Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Thanks!Man that is so fast! I hope you recover well! Beautiful scenery too
As for the scenery, my primary go-to long run route is mostly through suburban main roads with subdivisions on both sides. However, there’s a mile and a half or so where I run past the airport, and that area is mostly clear-cut. In the pic above, one of the runways begins directly across the road from me to my right, and it so happens that the sun rises on the other side, over the open field where the planes approach the runway. It does make for a great pic.
I handled the prime rib within my +500 Saturday calories after all! So good, and proud of myself for not over-indulging. Saturated fat was well over for the day, but will be slightly under for the week.
My family doesn't really like them, so it's up to me to eat 'em.
Such a burden... That roast looks delicious!
Ben_In_NC
Well-known member
Thanks! I don't know that I can properly convey what a HUGE win for me it was to fit in the calorie goal AND leave it alone for today. (I'll eat some more of it tomorrow.) In the past--even 3-4 months or so ago--I would have eaten as much of it as possible and then polished it off with too much cheesecake for dessert. (I mean, I don't recall the details, but there's a decent chance that either prime rib or a couple of huge ribeyes are what set off the big weight gain starting May 22nd.) For whatever reason--perhaps the perceived accountability of this forum--I just seem to be in a much, much better place.
And speaking of May 22nd, today's scale weight of 193.1 actually beat that date by .1 pounds.
Next milestone: 190 lbs. I haven't been below that number since April 3rd, and haven't had three straight days under it since March 22nd-24th. That'll be a big deal for me.
If anyone understands it's the folks on this forum. Great work!
That's wonderful to hear
That is just so awesome. And, yep, I think a lot of us can relate to what an achievement that is to not overeat on it all! So great that you feel able to put the stop on when you know it's enough!